


Puppy Love

by gwenwifar



Series: ABO Destiel [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Cas is a dork, Established Castiel/Dean Winchester, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Nontraditional ABO Dynamics, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Wolf Castiel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 23:02:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 7,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29018643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gwenwifar/pseuds/gwenwifar
Summary: Dean and Cas consider parenthood as Dean is about to go into heat.
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester
Series: ABO Destiel [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1623946
Comments: 2
Kudos: 13





	1. A new world

In the weeks since they’d been mated, a lot had settled into place. The lowest level of the underground parking lot was now “under renovation”, and the section by the service lift was blocked off with strategically placed construction materials and equipment. The elevator itself was “out of order”. 

Benny had found a guy with a junk yard willing to hand over any number of totalled Toyotas to be repaired and given away in exchange for regular detail jobs and the occasional classical car restoration. In between classes, Dean did the major repairs that would be beyond the scope of what he was teaching. He had never been greasier. He had never been sweatier. He had never been happier.

As it turned out, the grease monkey think really worked for Cas too, so - long, extremely satisfying showers had become a regular thing. As had making out in the back seat of whatever car Dean was repairing that week. And a few late “advanced aerobic” classes in which Cas was wearing almost as much grease as Dean was. After those few, he kept a change of clothes at work, just in case.

Apparently it was true that time flies when you’re having fun, because he was genuinely surprised when he received a call from the center on his day off.

“Mr. Winchester,” the nurse that had cared for him had said “our records show that you should be going into heat sometime in the next two to three weeks.”

Dean checked the calendar.

“I guess I am. I didn’t even realize.”

“I’m calling to see if you would like us to provide you with birth control or suppressants.”

He was initially genuinely surprised they would ask him, instead of his alpha. Old habits die hard. After a moment he remembered he didn’t work for the typical omega center, and it made sense that they would reach out to him directly. But why had they not just asked him at work tomorrow?

“I…. I guess…” he hesitated. “I’m sorry, I hadn’t really thought about it. Nobody’d ever asked me before.” 

The last time he’d had to deal with a heat, this would have been a question for his alpha. He knew Cas would be fine with whatever he decided. It still felt sneaky and wrong to be making the decision on his own.

“I understand,” she returned. “Would you like some time to think about it? Why don’t I call you tomorrow and you can tell me what you’ve decided?”

He nodded, then ran his fingers through his hair and spoke into the phone.

“Yeah, let’s do that. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”

He didn’t have much time, if his calculations were correct. Suppressants and birth control would need a full 10 days to work, and his heat was expected in 12, if it was on schedule. Should he discuss it with Cas? Now that they were properly mated, they should talk about these things. What if Cas wanted a pup? Were they ready for a pup? Was he? What did he even know about being a dad?

He put down the phone and went to the fridge, intending to grab himself a beer to mull it over with. He hadn’t even opened the fridge yet when Castiel’s voice stopped him.  
“Dean!” he was calling.

His voice sounded a little funny. Dean turned, trying to interpret the tone.

“Dean!” louder, more excited. But also a little anxious, maybe. What was going on now?

“Dean, where are you?” Cas was almost yelling now, and Dean rushed out of the kitchen.

“Cas, what’s up?”

“Come with me,” he’d urged. He could smell the slight tinge of uncertainty, but mostly there was eagerness and excitement. He smelled like a kid who just found a giant gift under the Christmas tree with his name on it and had no idea what was in it.

“Where are we going?” Dean asked, as Cas tugged him along, out the back door and around the side of the house.

“Cas, where are we going?”

Cas didn’t say anything, but Dean didn’t ask again. He didn’t have to. A crew was backing a wreck into their drive, and Cas swung into action, helping them drop the vehicle, and then guide it into their garage. It seemed like Dean blinked and everyone was gone, but it must have realistically taken longer, right? Cas was moving boxes out of the way, pulling lights closer, babbling something about tools and wondering if the ceiling was high enough for some sort of modest lift.

The uncertainty in his smell was getting stronger, and Dean finally made himself move.

“Cas,” he rasped.

Slowly, reverently, he drew his hand along the top of the car, looked through the windows.

“Where did you find her?”

“I talked to Benny’s junkyard guy. Asked him to keep a look out for her. It was kind of a shot in the dark, I really didn’t think it would come to anything. I – I wasn’t sure if you’d even…”

Dean slid his arms around Cas and pulled him close, snuggling into his neck, nuzzling him for a moment.

“When he said he might have found her, I had him buy her from the other yard. I figured even if it was the wrong car, it would still be a classic, and we could restore it for Bobby. I was pretty sure it was the right car when it got here, though.”

Cas looked at the awful gaudy green paintjob and the broken glass and bent metal.

“They wrecked her pretty badly,” Cas observed. “And that’s before they crashed her.”

Dean snorted, grabbed Castiel’s hand and squeezed it. 

“She’s going to need a lot of work, for sure.”

“If you want her,” Cas hesitated, “She’s yours.”

He wiggled the keys out of his pocket and held them out. 

“Of course I want her,” he confirmed. “Thank you.”

He grabbed the keys, and the touch of metal on his palm snapped him out of the daze he’d been in since he rounded the corner and saw the tow truck.

He slid his thumb across Castiel’s cheek, angled his head, and kissed his forehead tenderly.

“I can’t believe you found her. Thank you.”

He had no words to express how much it meant to him, so he let his scent do the talking as they stood in the garage door.

“Welcome home, Baby.”


	2. Day care

He’d ended up spending his evening under Baby, assessing the damage and listing parts and tools they’d need and he forgot all about talking to Cas. In fact, birth control or suppressants didn’t enter his mind again until he entered his classroom the next day. After a brief debate, Dean decided that he was rather looking forward to getting through a heat with Cas, so he wouldn’t need suppressants. Birth control, on the other hand, he should probably accept. He would just wait until he talked to Cas later before he took any.

Having come to that decision he went by the nurse’s station and picked up a bottle of pills. He’d talk to Cas over dinner. But as the day wore on, the questions started popping up. Did he even want kids? Sure, he missed Sam sometimes. He loved Sam, even back when he was just the annoying baby that wouldn’t let him get a good night’s sleep before school. But taking care of Sam had been *hard*. He had loved Sammy, but taking care of Sammy? Baths, food, teething? Not being able to have friends he could hang with after school? Not that much. It had consumed his life, and for the first time in forever, Dean was actually loving his life right now.

Did Cas want kids? Cas would make a great dad. Much better than the poor excuse for a parent Dean’s own father had been. They should have talked about this before they mated, he worried. What if Cas wanted a house full of pups? Was this one of those things where they compromised? Was it fair to the kid to have a pup he didn’t want because he wanted to keep his mate? He scratched at the back of his neck and paced through his lunch break. 

Okay, so if he was going to have this conversation with Cas he probably needed to figure out if this was “I don’t want to have kids, period” or “I don’t want to have kids yet.” Either way, he was going to need to get on that birth control sooner rather than later, so he took one with his lunch and stuck the bottle in his bag. It felt oddly like cheating. 

He got through his afternoon class, which was easy. Today they were covering tire changes and road signs. He got through that, worked on rebuilding the engine on the car they were restoring for Benny’s guy _(What was his name? Sounded kinda like Benny. Buddy? Billy? Bobby? Yeah, Bobby.)_ and then went to wash up before meeting up with Cas at the end of the day. But he found himself taking a detour.

There was a nursery, of sorts. More like a daycare, really. A sort of apartment across from the hospital wing, where the omegas with young pups left the pups while they attended classes. And where runaways with young pups could get help with the little ones. Dean found himself outside the door, looking through the glass windowpane. They looked happy. Messy. Loud. 

But also adorable. Dean realized he kinda wanted to make the one by himself in the corner smile. He thought that maybe now that he himself wasn’t a kid trying to survive - maybe it wouldn’t be so hard. And well, he had help this time. Cas wouldn’t be the kind of father to just go off for weeks and leave Dean with all the work. Maybe he could do this. Not yet, but at some point.

He must have been staring at the kid in the corner because he saw the kids head turn, look around and lock eyes with him. _Great job, Dean, making the pup uncomfortable. Creeper much?_ He tilted his head in chagrin, and rolled his eyes at himself. Apparently the combined result was pretty funny, because he saw the kid’s mouth twitch a little. 

_O yeah?_ Well, he could be funnier. He stood up taller, put his game face on, then slowly and deliberately crossed his eyes. When he uncrossed them again, he saw half a smile on the kid’s face and went for the big guns. This time, when he crossed his eyes, he stuck his tongue out, letting it drop to the side of his mouth and hang there until he felt like he was slobbering all over the place, carefully moving his head this way and that to make it flop around. 

“Dean?”

He turned his head as he uncrossed his eyes and pulled his tongue back where it belonged. Turns out sudden movement while uncrossing eyes that have been crossed for some time was a bad idea. He tilted dangerously for a second, before Cas reached for his arm to steady him, and ended up hitting his head on Castiel’s shoulder in the process. 

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” and Dean cleared his throat, his hand reaching up to wipe at the literal drool on his face. _Sexy!_ But as he raised his eyes again he saw the kid now had a full smile, ear to ear, and o yeah, he wasn’t actually trying to be sexy just then and as comic relief went, he guessed that was pretty effective. So he winked at the kid, and saw his eyes blow wide with wonder. His tiny hands reached for his eyes, like he was trying to work out the controls for his eye lids, and as Dean watched, positively fascinated, the pup finally gave up on replicating the wink and instead pulled his lid down with his fingers with a triumphant smile.

Dean turned to Cas to share the moment and found Castiel’s head tilted the way it always went when he was confused.

“Just – don’t ask.”

Cas chuckled, and followed him to their car.

oOo

But on the way to their car, they met Benny. And when they got home, an omega and her two pups were waiting in the shadows by the back door. It didn’t really seem right to have this conversation with guests in the house. A few more days wouldn’t be a problem, anyway, since he’d decided to take the birth control. Dean just hoped Cas wasn’t going to be upset that he’d made that call alone.

They made pasta, thankful that the pups were old enough not to need special food. They settled their guests in the bedroom down the hall, which had an extra bed the pups could share. And by the time the little family was settled in for the night, Cas and Dean were so exhausted they just crawled into bed, curled into each other, and went to sleep.


	3. Serenade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Have some Valentine's Day fluff. Ok, so it's day after Valentine's Day, but I spent my Sunday dealing with a frozen water pipe that eventually exploded, so let's just pretend I posted this when I originally intended to. Tooth rotting fluff alert!

The sweet, sweet scent of bacon drew Dean out of bed, Cas (reluctantly) not far behind.

“I can’t believe this is it. After all we’ve been through, you leave me for bacon,” he grouches in what Dean knows would be a good-natured tone if Cas was a morning person. 

“Well, I love you, Cas, but… bacon.”

“I guess I can’t argue with that. Plus, I think I might leave you for coffee, if we’re being honest.”

A cup of the aforementioned brew materialized in front of his nose and a deep breath and a careful sip later Cas raised his head to find 3 pairs of eyes quietly standing in the corner, watching them.

“Dean,” he called, nodding in their direction.

Dean’s head came up from where it was busily scrutinizing the pile of bacon strips for another (or 3) to join what was already on his plate.

“Yeah?” he tossed out.

Cas cleared his throat meaningfully, then took another sip of coffee. 

“Good morning,” he finally said. “Thank you for making breakfast. You didn’t have to. You’re our guests.”

He saw the dawning of awareness making Dean put his plate down, turn around to face them as well, smiling gently at the mother, then the kids.

“Sorry, we’re pretty useless before breakfast. Didn’t mean to be rude. I have kind of a thing about bacon…” he trailed off. “Anyway, thanks.”

He scooped up some toast and some eggs and, satisfied for the moment with the state of his plate, set it down long enough to grab some milk from the fridge. When their guests hadn’t moved before Dean was sitting down, he exchanged a quick glance with Cas.

“Did you already eat?” Cas asked, his voice shedding more of the morning growl with every sip of his coffee.

It was clear enough by the look in the face of the youngest child that they had not, so Cas waved them over.

“Please, eat.” 

It took some gentle prodding, but eventually they did sit around the table. Cas and Dean kept it casual while they ate, and then showed the mother how to get into the safe room should she need to take shelter with the children while they were at work. After which, they left for the day.

oOo

Halfway through the afternoon Dean decided he was going to need to start cleaning up before heading home. As much as he enjoyed getting under a car or rebuilding an engine, it was dirty work, and he was really uncomfortable with the idea of getting into a nice clean car before hitting the shower. Which naturally led him to the area where he knew he’d find a shower – the hospital wing. Which naturally led to standing outside the daycare door again, freshly washed thank you very much. And why not? It was right across the hall. If he wanted to be honest, he might also be wondering about the one pup.

“Dean?”

The good news was, when Cas found him this time, he wasn’t cross eyed and on the verge of face planting at his feet. The not so good news was, he was peeking into the window like a weirdo, only to duck back out of sight before the pup could wink at him. Right now the score was 3 winks for the pup, 4 for Dean. Sure, the kid was doing great, and Dean was going to let him win, duh. But he wasn’t going to roll over and play dead, alright? Anyway, he stood up properly, shifted in front of the window like a man with something to hide. Castiel’s brow went up, and he tried to look over his shoulder.

“Why did that pup wink at me?” he sounded puzzled, which, all things considered, was probably not surprising.

Dean moved into a more natural position and looked over his shoulder, trying to appear casual, his very best “what are you even talking about” look firmly in place. The pup was ready and waiting, and just like that it was 4 to 4 and Dean hadn’t even let him score that one. He was distracted, it shouldn't even count. He huffed internally, then turned to Cas again.

“That… that pup?” he mumbled. “I don’t know. I just came out of the shower,” he pointed in the general direction of the medical wing, and then sort of waved in the direction they were going to go just as soon as Dean stopped this idiot act he was putting on for some reason.

“I was walking by and something caught my eye. I…” time for a strategic retreat, Dean decided. “Are you ready to go?”

He slid his arm into Castiel’s and started walking him away. He couldn’t resist a last glance into the window and, blast it all, the kid won fair and square.

Since they had guests (and they had Baby now), they decided to forego their sparring in the guest room for a couple of days. They had an early dinner, and then while Cas settled the kids and their mother down for a movie, Dean headed to their garage to examine Baby’s interior and assess the damage. 

Dean didn’t realize he was humming until a deeper hum joined his. He looked up to find Cas leaning over the hood, a smile on his face. Dean found himself humming louder, his own smile widening in response. And then they got to the chorus and it happened. Cas stopped humming and started crooning.

_I love you, Baby and if it’s quite alright  
I need you Baby to warm my lonely nights  
I love you baby, trust in me when I say  
oh pretty baby, don't bring me down, I pray  
oh pretty baby, now that I've found you, stay  
and let me love you, baby,  
let me love you..._

Cas went back to humming after the chorus, but Dean had other ideas. Deliberately, he stood up and walk towards Cas, a finger trailing over Baby’s hood as he went.

“I had no idea you had such strong feelings for Baby, Cas,” he purred.

Cas kept humming, the smile turning coy.

“You just met a couple days ago and already you’re serenading her with love songs. I gotta say, I’m a little jealous.”

“Of me, or of Baby?” Cas teased.

With his best “chucks, darn” smile in place, Dean teased back.

“Both, I think,” Dean examined his finger for dust, then brushed it on Castiel’s shirt, all innocence.

With a gasp of mock outrage, Cas brushed at his shirt, then grabbed for Dean and pulled him close, dipping his head to Dean’s neck, nuzzling, dropping a kiss here and there. He must have continued to hum the song internally, though, because right on cue, when the second chorus should come up, Cas spun them away from Baby and belted it out as if he wanted the world to hear it.

He was no Sinatra, but he was Cas and that was better. Dean clung to alpha’s neck as he was spun literally off his feet, his eyes sparkling and his head thrown back with laughter, safe in Castiel’s strong arms.

“So,” Cas hesitated, catching his breath after all the singing, “How long till we can make out in the back seat?”

“I’ll make it my first priority,” Dean promised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, because this is a personal pet peeve, let the record show that "Can't take my Eyes Off You" was originally recorded by Frankie Valli and that is still the best possible version. Sinatra's cover is pretty great also, but if you only know Surf Mesa's recent cover, I beg you, please go listen to Frankie Valli. Please.


	4. Dork

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's really nothing here but fluff. or scruff, i guess. Castiel's wolf form makes an appearance.   
> A bit long because their backstory is briefly explained to a guest. If you haven't read the first two stories in the series, it would probably be a good time. You don't really need them exactly, but they fill a lot of blanks.

She was in the kitchen when they walked in. Awkwardly standing by the island, as if now that the children had been tucked into bed, their guest wasn’t quite sure what to do with herself. There was a sort of flinch when they walked in that escaped neither of them. 

“Pups sleeping?” Cas gently prodded.

But she only nodded, avoided his eyes, fiddled with her clothes.

“You’re welcome to watch TV, if you like. Or grab a book from the shelf if you like to read. Or anything really. We want you to be comfortable while you’re here.”

He went to the fridge, casually. Mostly, Dean thought, to create some space and turn his back to her. He emerged with a beer, which he offered Dean. Dean shook his head, and Cas closed the fridge and busied himself digging through drawers like the bottle opener hadn’t been in the same spot since he moved in.

None of it was doing anything to set the woman at ease, and so Cas took a swig of the beer he didn’t really want and exchanged a glance with Dean. An almost imperceptible nod of agreement had in heading for the door, beer abandoned on the counter.

“Excuse me, I should check on… something.”

A tiny smile, more of a quirk really, twitched across her face, though she did her best to avoid it.

“Subtle, isn’t he?” Dean mused.

They both snickered that time. Dean grabbed the abandoned beer and settled into one of the chairs around the kitchen table.

“He’s kind of a dork, but he’s great.” 

Her brow went up briefly. Thinking that this was the way to help her relax, he continued.

“He can be hard to get, at first. He’s not like most other alphas. I guess you knew that already,” he gestures vaguely towards the house. “But I’ll tell you a secret.”

He leaned forward like he wanted to whisper it and waited for her to approach, cautiously. When she had taken a few steps forward, he continued.

“I didn’t get him either, at first. In fact, I ran away from him. About a year ago now.”

He was surprised at the weight those words still had now that he’d said them out loud. He took another drink, for fortification, and then shoved aside the bottle. Drinking was not a healthy way to deal with his feelings. Also, it probably wasn’t wise to talk about this. They had moved a significant distance to avoid the consequences of his escape. And what Cas had done to save him from it. Then again if this omega wanted to get them into trouble with the law, all she had to do was say they had helped her escape. 

His uncertainly must have bled into his scent, because his hands, suddenly fascinating as they had become, were gently separated. He looked up to find her sitting across from him, gently soothing. Wise or not, he found he needed to tell someone who would understand. At least, he hoped she would.

“It’s kind of a long story. I tricked him into mating me. He showed up to help when my previous mate died. There were two alphas there, planning how they were going to share me, and arguing about who would get to go first. It was kind of a jam, and he got me out of it. But it’s like I was so focused on getting away I couldn’t think about anything else even after he got me out of there.”

She squeezed his hand momentarily and nodded.

“He grew up in Eden. The place you’re going to. And there was a lot he didn’t know about how the rest of the world works. I thought he was trying to trick me. Anyway, I did a lot of things I’m not proud of, an tricked him into taking me out to the country for a picnic. Then I ran away.”

“How?… _how!?_ ” she gestured.

It was hardly eloquent, but she’d been here for almost two days now and it was the first time she uttered words in his presence, so he took it as a win. What she wanted to know was clear enough and he answered her question anyway.

“He looked for me for hours,” his voice broke a little at the memory. “I was up a tree, and I could hear him. He was worried I might have had some sort of accident. When he finally figured out I’d run away, he left me a blanket and food before he left.”

He cleared his throat then, focused on her, and her question.

“I got caught after a couple of days and taken to the local punishment center. I thought I was toast. But they called him to say I was caught and before I knew what was happening, there he was, pushing through the doors like he owned the place.”

He shuffled up straighter, leaned in again, into the universally accepted gossip position.

“I thought he was going to punch me in the face, and honestly, I’m pretty sure I deserved it. But he just walks in, tosses my belongings in my lap, and tells me to get in the car. He’s going to punish me at home.” 

Slowly, Dean’s lips start to tug at the edge and he makes himself focus on Cas, on the wonder of Cas walking in to his rescue once again, and not the mistakes he made that landed them there.

“Then he turns around and demands to know why the center interrupted the lesson he was trying to teach me by leaving me out in the middle of nowhere with all my worldly possessions to find my way home on foot. He keeps them nice and busy while I sneak out the door. And then I hear an alarm and all the guards are running to the punishment room, clearing a path for me to get out.” 

The smile died before reaching full bloom.

“He saved my ass that day. Took me to Eden from there. Never even yelled at me. The very last time I’d seen him, I’d betrayed his trust. I just never thought that he would help me if I asked. I still don’t know why he didn’t just leave me there.”

He was drawn out of the funk he’d slipped into by the hurried opening of a door, followed by a very subtle entrance by his dorky mate, who very discreetly tried to assess the situation. His scent must have soured enough to draw Cas in here. 

“I was just telling our guest about my daring escape,” Dean explained.

Castiel’s hand settled onto his shoulder gently, and Cas moved his body closer. His scent, closer. Dean let himself enjoy the closeness. The reminder that it had all worked out and they were here, together.

“Did you get to the part about the daring rescue? Cause it doesn’t smell like you got to the fun part yet.”

“He was just doing that,” she piped up. And to Castiel’s credit, he didn’t even blink. He just sat down next to Dean and gave him a reassuring pat. 

“I never got the full story of what happened after I left the room,” Dean made himself continue. “I mean, he tried, but we were both laughing too hard.”

The smile started blooming again, the scent noticeably lightened, and Dean’s voice was suddenly flowing more freely.

“I gather once I’d been out of the room a few moments and it was time to sound the alarm, he stripped down and shifted. Then he started breaking things, leaping over them, making a giant mess, and got them to chase him all over the place.”

The mental image had him chuckling by the time he was done, and Cas had a cocky smirk on his face that Dean found way too appealing.

“I don’t know why I’m laughing. Your wolf form must be absolutely terrifying, considering how mad you were.”

“I’ll have you know my wolf form is exceedingly versatile. I can do terrifying, but I prefer friendly and playful.”

Feeling both Dean and their guest pull out of the gloom, Cas leaned into the levity and pushed on with the banter.

“In fact, most of the time my wolf form is adorable.”

He winked at Dean, then. Catching on, Dean jumped into the fray.

“Riiight,” he needled back. “All that muscle, black hair, blue eyes,” he faked an exaggerated shudder.

“Yeah? Well, I’ll just have to show you, won’t I?”

He raised a finger to signal that he needed a moment and walked into the pantry.

A huge, midnight black wolf walked out, his eyes so blue they chilled you to the core, on the spot. Both omegas froze, watched as the ears went up, the shoulders squared up and the wolf took a few steps forward. Then he sat down politely between then, let his ears flop and slid his tongue out to hang from the side of his mouth. Now in what Cas undoubtedly considered the adorable position, he faced Dean directly and tilted his head slightly.

That did it. Both omegas chuckled, and Cas relaxed into his part. He scooted closer ever so gently, lay his head on Dean’s lap for a moment, and whimpered for a scratch. Dean obliged him, and the sheer bliss that rumbled through him made them both laugh. Cas turned to look at the omega. The weird angle of his head as he turned to see her without losing contact with Dean’s hand made his tongue flop around, and he was suddenly the furthest thing from terrifying.

“Dork,” Dean chuckled.

Having eased their nerves, Cas sat up again and yiped once. Then he angled his body, pointed his ears, and put all the intensity of his nature into those glacial blue eyes. He jerked his head once, then switched back to his floppy eared, lolling tongue, wagging tail, tilted head, goofiness. Back and forth a couple of times. Then, having made his point, he curled up on the floor between them, his head gently settling on Dean’s feet with a sigh.


	5. Playful

“What are you doing up?”

It had been Castiel’s head that got her attention first, when he raised it from Dean’s feet, perked up his ears to follow a noise, and then turned to look at the door. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Dean asks, knowing the look in their eyes quite well. Sammy used to look like that when he was too anxious to sleep unless Dean was in the room with him.

Two small heads shook, sheepishly, as the pups looked at their mother. Or they meant to, but on the way to their mother, those eyes found Castiel, who had placed himself in his best adorable pose.

“Whoa,” the oldest pup said. “Can I pet him?”

“You’ll have to ask Cas,” Dean returned, pointing helpfully at the wolf. 

Their eyes got even bigger. Keeping to a polite distance, the older pup asked again, this time looking at Cas.

“Can I pet you?” 

Slowly, Cas crawled forward until he was standing just within arms reach of the pups, and extended his neck. The pups extended their hands, and Cas sniffed gently at them, then rubbed his muzzle into the older one’s hand. The pup giggled nervously, but moved his hand to scratch lightly at the spot right under Castiel’s ear. The younger pup moved forward, his hand reaching for Castiel’s neck to scratch at the longer hair there. The wolf’s eyes closed and he melted into the floor for a moment, much to the pup’s amusement.

“Can we play outside? Just for a minute?” The older pup asked.

“Pwease,” added his sibling.

Dean glanced out the window. It was still twilight out there. The moon was up, but the fireflies hadn’t come out yet. A few minutes shouldn’t be a problem. And it might wear them out and relax them enough to sleep. He looked at their mother, who seemed indecisive, then Cas, who was sitting up again, the tip of his tail twitching (because wolves don’t wag their tails, thank you very much) his approval of the plan.

“It’s not fully dark yet. A few minutes shouldn’t be a problem.”

The mother seemed relieved at that, and nodded to the children. 

“Stay with Mr. Cas. No rolling around on the grass.”

Three heads nodded enthusiastically and headed for the door.

“Cas! Don’t lick anything -” but he was already out the door “that I wouldn’t want to kiss,” Dean trailed off, with a sigh.

By unspoken mutual agreement, they moved to stand by the window. The kids were chasing Cas, who was literally running circles around them, keeping them in a contained area. After a moment, one of the pups found a stick, and they started playing keep away, the boys pretending to throw it, or passing it off to each other, or teasing Cas (who dutifully played at trying to get the stick from them while letting them keep it). 

Dean and the other omega exchanged an amused glance, before turning back to the window. Castiel’s tail was way up in the air, his head forward and low, and his front paws positively tapping the grass with excitement. They followed his gaze to see the younger pup raising his arm to throw the stick. But he raised it too far, momentarily lost his balance, and fell on his behind on the grass. Startled, he started to cry.

The pup’s mother made her way to the door, rushing to comfort the child. Dean couldn’t really see her. Cas had approached the crying pup, nosed at his hands and his chin, and then began to lick the pup’s face gently. The pup hiccupped, sniffled a bit, and his hands held on to Castiel’s thick fur, as if he was a giant teddy bear. Which, honestly, he mostly was. A heartbeat later, Cas started licking more playfully, gently nipped at the boy’s chin, and worked his way up.

“Did he just….?”

Dean looked at the back door, where the pup’s mother had stopped to see what Cas was doing.

“That would be a yeah. He did just lick a crying toddler’s runny nose,” Dean sighed.

“Mouthwash. If he’s going to shift, I’m going to need to stock up on mouthwash. He’s gonna need a lot of that.”

“And a bath,” she added, amusement in her voice.

Dean turned to look outside again, already cringing. Cas was flopping around all over the grass on his back, head tilted, and tongue hanging out. The pup had stopped crying entirely and was now starting to giggle at the wolf’s antics.

“And a bath,” Dean agreed. 

While the pups were so conveniently distracted, Cas suddenly reached for the stick, snatched it from where the smallest pup had dropped it, and jumped up to run off with it. With an indignant huff, the two kids went dashing after him.

They let them run for another minute, then the omega called her children back. 

“He’s going to be a great dad, someday. You know that, right?” she checked.

“Yeah. He really is.”

oOo

“Cas, do you -” he hesitated, then tried again. “How do you feel about - ”

“What are you trying to ask?” Cas finally nudged, shifting slightly on the bed so they could face each other.

“Do you think you want to have pups? You know, someday.”

He knew he sounded less than enthusiastic, but right now he _was_ less than enthusiastic. Someday, though. When every day didn’t feel so incredibly unreal. When he got up to go to work and it was just another routine, like brushing his teeth. When he wasn’t tempted to pinch himself just to check that he wasn’t still dreaming if he happened to wake up in the middle of the night next to Cas. When Baby was the car he drove for fun on weekends, and for every day runs they had something sensible (maybe even a minivan) that he wouldn’t mind being seen driving.

Having the pups here a couple of days had reminded him that he liked kids. He thought he would love to watch Cas raise one or two of them, if what he’d seen today was anything to go by. But not yet. Not for a while.

“Someday,” Cas repeated, thoughtful. “I think I would like to. If you want to.”

“If I want to?”

“Sure. I mean, pups are a big decision and at first, you’d bear the brunt of it. I mean, I can help, of course, don’t get me wrong. It’s not like you’d be doing it alone. But while I can go find you some chocolate covered pickles or whatever-”

“Gross,” Dean cut in.

“I can’t take the back pain and the morning sickness every other day so you can relax. So it’s up to you, really. I’d like pups, at some point, but I don’t _need_ pups, if that makes sense.”

“After the last few days, I think…” he chose his words carefully. “I think I’d like to have a pup or two. Just... not for a while.”

Cas pulled Dean closer into his side, pulled the blankets up tighter around them.

“When you’re ready, we can plan.”

“Okay,” he melted into Cas. His nose nestled right by his mate’s scent gland, with Castiel’s arm tucked close behind him, keeping him in place, was Dean’s personal version of Heaven. 

“Goodnight, Cas.”

“Sweet dreams, Dean.”


	6. Eden bound.

“Your mate said you grew up in the town we’re going to,” the omega they were hosting for a few more hours said into her mug of coffee.

He could have been forgiven for not realizing she was talking to him, her voice was almost swallowed up by the cup, and she was half-way across the room, her eyes fixed on the brew. Still, she had initiated a conversation, and that was something to encourage. Cas leaned into his elbows, bad form though his mother had often told him it was, leaning on the table. Returning his own eyes to his breakfast, he played with his eggs.

“Yes, I grew up in Eden. Dean was there too, for a few months. I lived there until about 3 years ago.”

She came a little closer, hesitated for a moment, then sat across from him.

“What’s it like?”

He hesitated, wanting to give the information she needed without creating unrealistic expectations or blowing things out of proportion.

“It’s safe,” he settled on. “A good place to breathe and figure out where you want your life to go. Or you can stay. Many people end up staying there permanently. You don’t ever have to leave if you don’t want to.”

“Safe is good,” she sounded cautiously relieved. “Why do I feel like there’s a but in there?”

“I don’t want make it seem like it’s a bad place or bias you one way or another. Like I said, it’s safe, and you’ll soon see for yourself what it’s like. But that safety comes at a price. There are a lot of rules and some of them, even if they are necessary, are hard. Especially for kids. My childhood was great. But after I presented – it was difficult, in many ways.

For a moment he thought he heard footsteps, and hesitated, his head jerking up to look at the door.

“It was difficult not just while I was going through it, but in ways that made life difficult after I left. I-”

Another sound from the general direction of the door distracted him momentarily, but he continued.

“It’s a safe place, and safe is what you need right now. Neither of the pups is anywhere near presenting, so-”

“Difficult in what way?” she prompted.

“You’re not allowed to be an alpha or omega there. You are given suppressants, and there are all these rules. And there’s a reason for that. It keeps everyone safe. But when you’ve never been out here, and seen how this world works… I had no clue how to be myself. I didn’t learn to control my hormones, or when it is and isn’t appropriate to be angry. I didn’t learn anything about what is expected of an alpha out here. Or an omega, for that matter. I didn’t learn how to be a good alpha, how to be a good mate. How to deal with another alpha when they’re out of control or behaving inappropriately. How to stand up for myself. How to read scents. The difference between being assertive and being aggressive. How to support and comfort an omega if they need it. It took a good couple of years to even understand myself once I was off the suppressants, honestly. And I’m just now beginning to be the kind of mate an omega can be proud of.”

Cas abandoned his food. It didn’t even look good anymore, honestly, after all the pushing and prodding he’d been doing. The silence was deep for a moment, both of them lost in thought.

“Why did you leave?” she finally asked.

“I had to. I was kicked out.” 

“Why?”

“It’s a long story. Not really important. The point is, when you grow up there and then leave, there is a lot you don’t know about how the world works. And people just assume.”

“Assume?”

He searched briefly for an example. 

“Say for example that you have never learned how to read scent. Your new friend says they’re fine, so you believe them and go about your business. Later, you find out they were definitely NOT fine, and everyone in the room could smell it. Now everyone is acting like you’re a jerk. You try to find out why, but people assume you behaved carelessly on purpose. When you ask, they don’t see someone trying to understand what they did wrong. They see someone who knows what they did wrong saying that the behavior was completely appropriate. So now you’re a jerk and a gaslighter. And you still don’t know how you messed up, so you’re pretty sure you’re going to do it again,” he sighed.

“And you can’t really blame them. That’s the worst part. This is the kind of stuff you should have learned growing up. The kind of stuff most people don’t even realize they had to learn in the first place, because they learned it organically, over years of observing the adults, being patiently corrected as needed by everyone around them. Of course they’re going to think you learned it too.”

“It sounds lonely,” the omega surmised, her hand gently pressing his for a moment. 

She took her cup to the sink, rinsed it out, set it down.

“I’ll remember,” she finally blurted out. “I’ll remember what you said.”

She left the room then, feeling that he needed to be alone. A moment later, Dean was slowly coming down the stairs, the two pups following carefully.

“Your ride should be here in about an hour,” he announced.

“I’ll go gather our things.”

Dean strolled into the kitchen.

“Ride will be here in an hour,” he repeated.

Cas raised his head, startled, and nodded. 

“Who is this guy again?”

Okay, part of it was that Dean was genuinely curious, but mostly, he just needed Cas to think about something other than whatever was keeping that cloud over his head.

“He’s one of the founders. Every year or so one of them comes by to check in, see if there’s support we need, deal with any big issues that come up. Make sure we’re still on track, I suppose. They usually hang around a few days and help out with stuff like this.”

Evidently, whatever was bumming out Cas was somehow work or Eden related, so Dean switched tactics. Sliding into Castiel’s lap, he snuggled into his mate.

“So… anything you want to do while they’re getting ready to go?”

For good measure, he fluttered his lashes and there it was, the smile in those beautiful blue eyes, and then yep, also taking over the rest of his face.

“I may have a few ideas, but I’d rather wait until they’re gone.”

Nuzzling into Castiel’s neck, Dean pouted and made a contrary noise.

“I suppose a small, controlled warm-up wouldn’t be out of place.”

Castiel’s reservations aside, they remained undisturbed until the doorbell rang some time later. Dean headed to the door first, Cas not far behind. They almost collided, however, when Dean abruptly stopped just inside the door. His eyes were on the elaborately framed glass that made up most of the top door panel. Then just as abruptly, he bolted forward and opened the door.

“Sammy?”


End file.
